the pioneers of female rock

ARTE – FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13 – 10:30 PM – DOCUMENTARY

Sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll. Painful breakups, creative flashes and depressions. But also, above all, exceptional musical and vocal performances. A quintet which, in its most glorious period, from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, benefited from a high-flying rhythm section (Mick Fleetwood on drums, John McVie on bass), two extraordinary singer-songwriters (Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie) and a charismatic singer, guitarist and composer (Lindsey Buckingham).

Fleetwood Mac, which appeared in 1967, had several lives – including the first British period with the prodigious guitarist Peter Green (1946-2020) – before knowing international glory. This fascinating documentary, rich in personal archives (a blessed time when the musicians could be filmed up close, behind the scenes, in rehearsals, on tour), dissects these changes and the successive working methods of a group with a phenomenal influence, revered by artists from pop, rap, and blues.

“Dreams”, the perfect hit

From Smashing Pumpkins to Courtney Love, from Miley Cyrus to Harry Styles, via Vampire Weekend, to name but a few, everyone has covered Fleetwood Mac hits, including, of course, the legendary Dreams. A gem recorded in Sausalito, California, in the Record Plant studio. A mind-blowing voice (Stevie Nicks), relentless drums (Mick Fleetwood) and a formidable Fender Rhodes electric piano.

Dreamsconsidered the perfect hit, released in 1977 on an album (Rumours) which has also become legendary, a mixture of pop, folk and rock, selling forty-five million copies and which, in 2023, forty-six years after its release, was still in the top 10 best-selling vinyls in the United States!

The beginning of the great Fleetwood Mac period can be dated to 1974, when the group, which had just welcomed the couple Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, moved to Los Angeles. At the Sound City recording studio, the magic quickly happened. Released in 1975, the album Fleetwood Mac (and its captivating tube Rhiannon) will sell more than three million copies.

In a very masculine, not to say macho, musical universe, the talent and personality of the two women in the group give Fleetwood Mac an unprecedented strength. Interviewed on camera in the documentary, Christine McVie, born Perfect (!) and who died in 2022, spoke about her relationship with Stevie Nicks: “We are opposites in life but we liked each other right away! Like two sisters.”

The songs composed by Christine McVie are often melancholic, soothing. Those composed by Stevie Nicks are more mystical and sensual. The final result is breathtaking, with in particular very personal songs about romantic breakups. The only hit co-written by the five members of the group? The Chainin 1977.

The band’s longevity remains surprising, given the amount of drugs, love disputes, breakups and exhausting tours that have taken their toll on the quintet. But, as Alex Kapranos, from the band Franz Ferdinand and a die-hard fan of the Californian band, sums up: “There’s Fleetwood Mac on acid and Fleetwood Mac on cocaine. That was the era, and it represented the excesses of 1970s Los Angeles. That didn’t stop some exceptional music from being born.”